


love is red

by fakehaunting



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Late at Night, Post-Time Skip, Spoilers, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:35:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25114732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fakehaunting/pseuds/fakehaunting
Summary: Edelgard will always have trouble sleeping.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Edelgard von Hresvelg
Comments: 5
Kudos: 42





	love is red

Before coming to the monastery Edelgard never knew peace. She was born into darkness and felt only darkness, so it wasn’t something she even knew to want. Even during the beginning of her time at the monastery she knew she was there for a reason and didn’t want to stray from her goal, not even when she met Professor Byleth who definitely wasn’t part of the plan. Then came the war and wartimes could never be peaceful no matter how much she wanted it to have ended better. 

“Eddy?” Dorothea’s calming voice called Edelgard out of her thoughts, pulling her away from the sadness she felt for the moment. 

Edelgard let herself take a deep breath before looking up from her desk to find Dorothea in the doorway of her study. Dorothea looked sleep rumpled in her nightgown and robe, her eyes lidded yet full of barely masked worry. She was never one for pet names but in that moment she wanted to call Dorothea something sweet just to make her feel better. 

“Yes my darling?” she replied. 

Dorothea’s cheeks flushed prettily in response but her gaze didn’t waver. She wasn’t someone who could be easily deterred from something and she clearly wanted to get to the bottom of things. “It’s awfully late for you to be reading documents,” she said. “Even an Emperor has to rest.” 

_ I woke up from another nightmare _ , she wanted to admit but couldn’t bring herself to. Even after years of being together she couldn’t really talk about the nightmares very much. It was difficult to admit feeling weak even to someone she loved so dearly. 

“I couldn’t sleep,” she started, “so I decided to get some things done instead of waiting around for sleep to come.” 

Dorothea walked fully into the room and Edelgard was struck by her beauty once again. The way the moonlight shone against Dorothea’s skin was gorgeous and how her body moved spoke of years of warrior grace. She was muscled from her years of training both in the sword and in magic, her hands soft but calloused from it as well. Dorothea moved with the grace of a dancer and the purpose of a warrior; she knew what she wanted and went for it without pause. 

Sometimes Edelgard envied that easy confidence that she had. 

“You could’ve woken me,” she said and sat down on the edge of the desk closest to Edelgard. “You know I don’t mind.” 

“You hardly slept last night,” she replied. “You need rest just as much as I do.”

Dorothea had recently taken up directing a choir and singing for the opera once more, so her schedule was rather hectic. She also still had her role on the Black Eagle Strike Force that she regularly kept up, so her plate was always full. The amount Dorothea took on sometimes worried Edelgard but she knew her wife could handle it; Dorothea had an incredible amount of strength both physically and emotionally. She wasn’t to be overlooked or treated as incapable. 

“I want to be here for you when you need me Eddy,” Dorothea said. “Please allow me to be.” she finished and cupped Edelgard’s cheek with her hand. 

She pressed into the warmth of her and closed her eyes, feeling exhaustion starting to hit her. Something about being cradled in the warmth of Dorothea’s hand brought her peace and calmed her down significantly. “I want you to be here for me, too.” 

“I know you’re working hard these days but you don’t feel like you’re doing enough,” she says. “But you are, my love. You’re doing more than enough and your people love you.” 

Edelgard swallowed past the lump in her throat and ignored the burning of her eyes.  _ Her people.  _ There were countless people who depended on her and accepted her rule, accepted the Empire instead of the Church and stayed with her. It still surprised her to this day but she thanked them all as much as she possibly could as their Emperor. 

“I love you,” Edelgard said softly as she opened her eyes. She wanted to see Dorothea’s face as she said it. 

Dorothea smiled and stroked Edelgard’s cheek with her thumb. “I love you too,” she replied. “You know how much.”

“I like to hear it,” she teased. “I want to hear your love all the time.” 

She rolled her eyes fondly before speaking, “You want to hear my love? You’ve asked a songstress to sing, Eddy. If I have to sing about how much I love you, you may be stuck with me singing non-stop.” 

Edelgard blushed and turned her face to kiss Dorothea’s palm. “You say that as if it’s a punishment. There are much, much worse things than hearing my wife sing to me.” 

“Hail the mighty Edelgard,” Dorothea started to sing, “though red blood stained her story. She’s come so far and made our love her glory.”

Edelgard yawned and Dorothea playfully scowled. “So my song bores you now?” she asked. 

“Was it not supposed to be a lullaby?”

“It was a declaration of my undying love for you!” Dorothea exclaimed, her eyes smiling.

“It was beautiful and as stunning as you are,” Edelgard replied through another yawn. 

“I think it’s time for the Emperor to go to bed,” she said sweetly. “Up you get, your papers can wait.”

“Hubert won’t be pleased,” she said as if that truly mattered. She was just stalling to get Dorothea to give her more attention. 

“Hubert will be just fine,” Dorothea replied and helped Edelgard to her feet. “I’m going to offer you this because I know how tired you are; would you like a ride, my dearest Eddy?” 

“Hmm,” Edelgard hummed despite the fact that she had already made her decision. “Just this once.” 

Dorothea’s chuckle was so, so beautiful and electric. She bent down slightly and lifted Edelgard into a bridal carry and held her close to her body. “Thank you,” she said.

“For what?”

“Oh, nothing,” Dorothea said. “Just for being you, I guess.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! comments are always very appreciated, and you can follow my twitter  
> [@edelgardy](https://twitter.com/edelgardy) for more fire emblem content if you want <3


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